How to Play Roulette: Bets, Odds & the House Edge

Roulette is an 18th-century French game named after the wheel: ‘la roulette’ means ‘the little wheel.’ A 1796 French novel already describes a wheel with both a 0 and a 00; the single-zero wheel was introduced in 1843 by François and Louis Blanc, while the American game kept the double zero. That one extra pocket is the difference between a 2.7% and a 5.26% house edge. Here’s how to play roulette: the bets, the payouts, and the math behind why no system can beat it long-term.

Key takeaways

You place chips on the table layout, the dealer spins the wheel and ball, and bets covering the winning pocket are paid.
A European wheel has 37 pockets (one zero) and a 2.7% house edge; an American wheel has 38 (0 and 00) and a 5.26% edge.
On a European wheel every bet carries the same 2.7% edge, so bet choice changes your variance, not your expected loss.
Betting systems such as Martingale cannot remove the house edge; they only reshape how wins and losses arrive.

How to play roulette, step by step

Get chips. In a casino you usually swap cash for roulette chips at the table. Many tables give each player chips of their own color so bets don’t get mixed up.
Place your bets. Put chips on a single number, on a line or corner between numbers (inside bets), or on the boxes around the edge of the layout (outside bets).
The spin. The dealer spins the wheel one way and launches the ball the other way. You can usually keep betting until the dealer calls “no more bets.”
The result. The ball drops into a pocket. The dealer marks the winning number on the layout, often with a small marker called a dolly.
Payouts. Losing chips are cleared first, then winning bets are paid. A winning bet usually stays on the table unless you pick it up.

European vs American Roulette

European Roulette has 37 pockets: 0, and 1-36. House edge: 2.7% (1/37). Some French-rules tables add la partage or en prison, which halves the edge on even-money bets to about 1.35%.

American Roulette has 38 pockets: 0, 00, and 1-36. House edge: 5.26% (2/38). The double-zero almost doubles the house edge.

If you have a choice, play European. Our free browser version uses a single-zero European wheel.

La partage and en prison

Both rules only apply to even-money bets when the ball lands on zero. Under la partage you lose half your bet and get the other half back. Under en prison your bet is held for the next spin: if it wins then, you get it back. Either way, zero costs you half as much on those bets, which is why the edge on them drops to about 1.35%.

The roulette table layout

The numbers 1 to 36 sit in a grid of three long lines of twelve numbers (the three columns) and twelve short rows of three (the streets). Zero sits at the end of the grid. Numbers alternate red and black, and the zero is green.

Around the grid are the outside-bet boxes: three dozens (1-12, 13-24, 25-36), three column bets marked “2 to 1,” and six even-money boxes for Red, Black, Even, Odd, 1-18 and 19-36. The wheel itself orders the numbers differently from the table, mixing high and low, red and black, so neighboring pockets on the wheel are rarely neighbors on the layout.

Bet types and their odds

Straight (single number): pays 35 to 1. True odds: 36 to 1 against. House edge: 2.7%. Highest variance bet.

Split (2 adjacent numbers): pays 17 to 1. House edge: 2.7%.

Street (3 numbers in a row): pays 11 to 1. House edge: 2.7%.

Corner (4 numbers): pays 8 to 1. House edge: 2.7%.

Six Line (6 numbers): pays 5 to 1. House edge: 2.7%.

Column or Dozen (12 numbers): pays 2 to 1. House edge: 2.7%.

Even-money bets (Red/Black, Even/Odd, High/Low): pays 1 to 1. You win on 18 pockets and lose on 19 (the 0 loses), so it’s not a true 50:50. House edge: 2.7%.

Roulette odds and payouts table (European wheel)

Bet	Numbers covered	Payout	Chance to win per spin
Straight	1	35 to 1	1 in 37 (2.7%)
Split	2	17 to 1	2 in 37 (5.4%)
Street	3	11 to 1	3 in 37 (8.1%)
Corner	4	8 to 1	4 in 37 (10.8%)
Six Line	6	5 to 1	6 in 37 (16.2%)
Column or Dozen	12	2 to 1	12 in 37 (32.4%)
Red/Black, Even/Odd, 1-18/19-36	18	1 to 1	18 in 37 (48.6%)

Check the pattern: each payout is what the bet would pay on a 36-pocket wheel with no zero. The zero is the only reason the casino wins over time.

Every bet has the same house edge

That’s the trick of Roulette: on a European wheel every bet type has the same house edge, 2.7%. (On an American wheel it’s 5.26% on everything except the five-number 0-00-1-2-3 bet, which is worse at about 7.9%.) Some bets pay more for less frequency; others pay less for more frequency. The expected loss per dollar bet is the same.

You can check it with the straight bet. Bet 1 chip on each of the 37 numbers: one wins and pays 35 plus your 1 chip back, so you get 36 chips back from 37 staked. You lose 1 chip in 37, which is 2.7%. The same sum works for every other bet.

So strategy is NOT about choosing bet types to win. Strategy is about choosing bet types to match your variance tolerance.

Why no betting system works long-term

Martingale: double after every loss. Sounds great until you hit table limits or run out of bankroll. It produces many small wins and occasional huge losses, and the expected result is still a loss.

Same math applies to D’Alembert, Fibonacci, Labouchère, every other system. All have negative expected value because the house edge is structural, not tactical. A system only decides how much you bet on each spin; every one of those bets still carries the same edge, so the total expected loss is the edge times the total amount you wager.

The gambler’s fallacy

Each spin is independent. If red has come up eight times in a row, black is no more likely on the next spin: the chance is still 18 in 37 on a European wheel. The belief that a result is “due” is known as the gambler’s fallacy.

Variance management

If you want to play roulette for entertainment, the strategy is variance management. Even-money bets (Red/Black) give you the most spins per bankroll. Single-number bets give you the most exciting wins but bust your bankroll fastest.

The house edge applies to the total you wager, not to your starting stack. On a European wheel, 100 spins at $5 a spin is $500 wagered, so the expected loss is about $13.50 — but any single session can land well above or below that. If you play for real money, set a fixed amount you can afford to lose and treat it as the cost of entertainment.

Roulette terms worth knowing

Inside bets: bets on the number grid (straight, split, street, corner, six line).
Outside bets: the dozens, columns and even-money boxes around the grid.
Call bets: some European tables accept bets on sections of the wheel, such as voisins du zéro (the numbers near zero), placed by telling the dealer.

Practice

Play our Roulette. Single-zero European wheel with straight-up number bets, columns, dozens, and the even-money outside bets (it doesn’t offer split, street, corner or line bets). No real money; learn the table layout for free. When you want a break from numbers, the Chrome Dino game is one keypress away.

Here’s how a round works in our version. You start with 1,000 play chips. Pick a chip value of 1, 5, 25 or 100, click numbers or outside boxes to stack chips, then press Spin. Clear Bets takes your chips back before the spin. A zero beats every outside bet, just as in a real casino, and if you run out of chips your stack resets to 1,000. Your best chip total is saved in your browser.

Want another table game where your decisions actually change the odds? Try our Blackjack, or browse our list of free online casino games.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest way to play roulette for a beginner?

Start with outside bets such as Red or Black, or a dozen. They win often enough to keep a session going and are simple to track. They carry the same 2.7% house edge on a European wheel as every other bet.

What is the best bet in roulette?

On a European wheel, no bet is better than another in expected value: all carry a 2.7% edge. Even-money bets under la partage or en prison rules are the exception, at about 1.35%. On an American wheel, avoid the five-number bet, which has an edge of about 7.9%.

What happens to outside bets when the ball lands on 0?

They lose, unless the table uses la partage or en prison, which return half the even-money stake or hold it for one more spin. A straight-up bet on 0 itself pays 35 to 1.

Can you win at roulette with a system?

Not in the long run. Systems change bet sizes, but each bet still has the same negative expected value, so the expected loss grows with the total amount wagered.

What is the difference between European and American roulette?

American roulette adds a 00 pocket, for 38 pockets instead of 37. Payouts stay the same, so the house edge rises from 2.7% to 5.26%.

Can I practice roulette for free?

Yes. Our Roulette game uses play chips on a single-zero wheel, so you can learn the layout and bet types without real money. For the game’s background, see the Wikipedia article on roulette.

How to Play Roulette — Bets, House Edge, Why Systems Fail